World No. 1 Japan will open this year's inaugural Premier 12 on Nov. 8 at Sapporo Dome against chief Asian rival South Korea.

The groups for the Premier 12, which will pit the top 12 nations in the rankings of the World Baseball Softball Confederation, were announced Wednesday. In addition to Japan and eighth-ranked South Korea, Group B includes the second-ranked United States, the defending World Baseball Classic champion Dominican Republic (No. 6), Venezuela (No. 10) and Mexico (No. 12).

Group A begins play the following day with co-host Taiwan (No. 4) taking on the fifth-ranked Netherlands. Japan and South Korea will then move to Taiwan, where the remainder of the group-stage games and the quarterfinals will be played.